The academy is located on an island in the middle of the Lake of Stars. It was placed here originally to seclude itself from interruption from the outside world. Jonah Blackrose originally built the academy as a place where all knowledge could be learned.

Blackrose Academy was built as a center for anyone wanting to learn. It houses some of the most intelligent and brilliant minds of its time. People would come from all around to study magic, languages, warfare and tactics, among other things. But that has changed.

Now it has turned into an academy of status. On graduating from the academy a student recieves a mark on their arm that signifies that they have succeeded in graduating. Some employers will hire someone who has gone through the academy simply because of the respect and reputation involved with gaining that little mark.

This mark carries with it a respect that some people would never have achieved in life had it not been for graduating from Blackrose Academy.

Some Kingdoms send their military officers there to learn tactics and to become a better leader. This is mandatory in some militaries.

Originally when the academy was started more than a century ago, anyone was welcome to attend the academy to learn. Now however, only a select number of people are invited to attend. It is a great honor to be invited to the academy. However there are other ways to become a student of the illustrious academy. Some militaries require their officers to attend the school and pay a handsome yearly dividend to send their officers to the academy. Other more wealthy or influential have been known to give liberal gifts to Instructors and other faculty to allow their children to attend. This is normally done from the very rich merchants and nobility.

One of the most detailed libraries is located in the academy, to include original works from some of the most renowned authors on alchemy and magic.

Fourth year students undergo a different class regime that normal. They are given scenarios that they are put into that they must determine how to solve the problem. These scenarios (adventures, modules, etc) are real to the students. Every action they do has a reaction and any harm that befalls them during these scenarios feels real.

What the students don’t know, is that these scenarios are indeed real. They are told that they are made up scenarios that are given to every class, but that is to make the students less agitated toward the event. The instructors use an old device that can transport objects to a designated location. The students are given a task, and then sent to this destination and told to solve it. What they do from there is up to the students, but they are graded on their actions. And graduation falls to the Instructors passing the student by their actions.

Surrounding City

A small city has grown up around the academy to keep it stocked with needed supplies. In honor of the academy it has been unofficially dubbed City Blackrose. There is a single tavern on the island that doubles as a place for boarding visiting Instructors as well as students that do not go home for their yearly break. Most of the basic needs can be found on the island, there are numerous general stores as well as merchants that supply needed goods for the Instructors who can not get away from their studies to purchase off island.

There is a large garden that covers the entire north side of the academy. It is only available to faculty, visiting dignitaries, graduates, and fourth year students. Inside the garden are many contemplation glades, mazes, and small ponds with plenty of fish to watch and feed.

Plot Hooks

The academy as a starting point for some of my campaigns by having all of the characters students of the academy. The scenarios that the characters go on, are actually adventures that they characters are placed in.

Waterfront District - On arriving on the island, one enters the harbor and the Waterfront District. This is not the usual bustle and dirty flavor of drunken sailors roaming the streets and devious press gangs and thieves hunting the taverns. Instead, it is orderly and relatively clean with traffic flowing quickly to the rest of the city. Along the docks port offices are lined with ship captains ready to ship passengers or goods to and from the island. Passage can be found day or night and the fares are generously decent.

The most prominent office is for the Blackrose Trading Company, named after the academy and the lake in which it sits on. This office is in a large three story red brick building that dominates the smaller offices near it. The owner of Blackrose Trading Company was a teacher at the Academy for years, but when an disagreement happened between himself and the Headmaster, he resigned and began making a small fortune in business.

The district wanders up and down the harbor and curves itself around the warehouse district giving easier access for passengers to go around the warehouses and get directly to the city. Roads leading to the warehouse district and the Business District are well marked and visual.

Warehouse District - This district is relatively devoid of residing population, with only a handful of residents to maintain and watch over the buildings and the occasional guard sent to patrol the streets. The only traffic is found during the day light hours. There are thirty warehouses regularly being used with a few more empty except during certain parts of the year when demand is high for harder to get items of need.

There are two warehouses run by Degler and Son’s that they hire out to travelers and the occasional resident to house their goods. These warehouses have small rooms that have been built inside the warehouse to house an individuals personal items and keep them separate from the housed goods of another. These rooms have locks that the person renting the space has the only key. The warehouses run by Degler and Son’s usually have guards posted day and night around their buildings to better protect the property of their customers.

The district sits next to the harbor and the waterfront district away from the others. Roads leading to the different quarters in the business district are wide and straight, leading directly to the places one intends to go.

Entertainment District - While districts such as this are in a lower-class neighborhood where the building rent is cheaper, and entire section of the city has been designated specifically for the art of entertainment. Various buildings dedicated to art, a small amphitheater for music, three theaters for plays, a ring for various displays of non-lethal combat, a small library for those who can not access the Academy, and a small zoo that is well stocked with various animals throughout the land.

Roads leading off to the Business, Residential, and the Temple Districts are relatively direct, with few meandering off in odd directions. The roads leading to and from the residential district are wide and clear with glass street lamps that are lit nightly to ensure the safe return home of every patron.

Theater of Confused Arts - This is a novelty among the population and visitors alike. It is a freeform entertainment where those in the audience have the opportunity to get up on the stage and be an actor for the night. This has brought many would be actors who are trying to get hired by practicing their skills here. Entrance fees are larger than average but the entertainment is well worth it.

Arena - The arena is a profound addition to this district. It was at first refused acceptance by the civic authorities for its brutal functions. There were a few fights that lead to the death of important children regardless that they went willingly to prove their skills it was frowned on. However, it has become sanctified by the courts as a means to justly handle any disagreements not want to be held in court. As once the fights are over, the reasons behind them are done. This has lead to many peaceful fights with less bloodshed on the streets.

Business District - The business district is separated into three quarters, the Inn Quarter, the Marketplace, and the Shops Quarter. Each one separate from the other, yet combined to make the district one complete stop for any business need. This district is the culmination of everything pertaining to business.

Inn Quarter - This is a relatively small section of the district as it only has six inns total. However, these inns are every occupants desire. The smallest is three stories tall and is just short of a city block long. Each room is spacious and the staff treat every occupant the same. Rates are average to high depending on the Inn that is stayed at, and to often than not, many parties can be found hosted in the ball rooms of the larger Inns.

The Grandrose Inn is the most prominent Inn on the island. As it’s name suggests, it is the largest building, spanning nearly five total city blocks in length. The Grandrose is usually for the more wealthy and socially predominant. It is fully functional in that it houses it’s own kitchen large enough to supply to every guest in the Inn, an upscale tavern locally known as a The Pub that is only available to those who stay at the Grandrose. There is also a meditation garden within the building itself.

The Marketplace - Separate from the daily shops, the marketplace houses many other amenities than just open stalls of small business selling their wares. The local taverns and eateries are located in the marketplace. In the center of the marketplace is a raised platform used by one of the local theaters that puts on shows daily for those in the marketplace. Jugglers, acrobats, and minstrel bards can be found playing on stage for those out enjoying the day, or buying supplies.

Shop Quarter - The shop quarter is the most organized of the other quarters and districts. The shops have been separated and put onto certain streets depending on the services that they provide. All shops dedicated to magic are placed on a single street. All shops pertaining to smithing are all located on another street. The streets are well marked and a common marker is placed at every street to detail what shops are located on what street.

Residential District - This houses all of the permanent homes of those that live here. Between the residence that work in the businesses or faculty that work in the academy that have homes outside of the school. This district is by far the largest next to the area in which the academy sits on. Roads meander throughout the landscape with no real order, but all ending back in a central location where roads are marked easily to enter other districts. Most of the homes are of wood and a whitewash, but the more permanent residents tend to have nicer homes made of brick and elegant wood designs.

The exteriors are usually a white stucco, with some half-timbering (wooden beams embedded in the stucco, some for support others for looks. Other characteristics include high-pitched roofs (covered in slate), asymmetrical configurations, enclosed entryways, fireplaces with ornamented chimneys and chimney pots, and casement windows. This design is fairly fire resistant, easy to replicate, and used local materials.

Most buildings in this district are two story, semi-detached town home affairs, and they are usually longer than they are wide. This long and narrow town home design allows the largest number of houses to fill in along a street. There is seldom an alley way between the buildings big enough to use. The second story usually extends beyond the first, allowing for enclosed or covered entries in front and back. There is normally a tiny yard associated with the back of the house. The back of a house faces the back of another house. If there is a business in the building (which is usually the case), the business is downstairs, while the family and workers live upstairs.

The roads here are also slanted to flow water to the center of the road. There are under channels in the center of the roads, covered by square masonry pieces with short gaps between them. Water flows into the center, down the gaps and into the under channel. Smaller streets flow into the under channels of larger streets, and so on. Houses are connected to this system by their own underchannels.

Temple District - This is a small district divided into eight parts. Each section devoted to one of the eight Gods of Hewdamia. A wide boulevard stretches the entire length of this district with large flat slate stone for paving. Each temple is large enough to be modest yet they do not try to outdo the other temples in appearance. They all look nearly identical with the exception of the reliefs in front, and the interior.

Academy District - Is where Blackrose Academy is housed. There is a large twenty foot wall that surrounds the entire complex including the large garden to the north of the island from the rest of the islands populace. A wide forty foot gate extends across the only road leading into the academy and is always manned by twenty guards from the Civic District. The academy is off limits to anyone who is not faculty, a current student, a graduate, or a guest. Each guest’s name is given to the gatehouse and written down in a large text with the dates and times that entrance permission is allowed. All other times are off limits.

Professional District - This is where the majority of the more lucrative businesses are housed. The hospital as well as the public library are housed in this districts. This district is a city run district with public available services.

Guildhall District - This district is where all the organizations of local guilds are located. Everything from the mason’s guild, jeweler’s guild, to the more intensive and specialize guild of messengers, mercenaries, registered warriors, and each of the elemental schools.

Park District - The park is a large space with many shade trees and a large open field for multiple games. Walkways and small pools are located through the park with stone benches set aside randomly to take in the view of the island, park, or the river. It is maintained civil services and kept well groomed throughout the year.

Civic District - This is where the daily laws are handled on the island. While the academy has their own rules and laws, the island needed a set of their own that the people are required to follow. This district is very small, housing only five buildings in total on one block. Each building has it’s own purpose and each see out their own business in the day to day life of Star Lake Island.

Civil Service - This building is where the cities workers are stationed. This houses all the workers that upkeep the city and keep it clean and working. If the drainage in a certain district is not working, a service crew will be sent to fix the problem. Keeping the cobble stone roads in repair as well as the park and the zoo maintained also fall under the responsibility of the Civil services.

Court House - This handles the day to day struggle of law breakers. Very few of the residents on the island ever have a need to come here, however, visitors have a knack of making a bad first impression and ending up sitting in front of the court to explain their actions. It is run by a council of six. These six are hired in for three years and then help recruit for their replacement.

Jail - The jail is a small squat building attached to the Militia’s Office. It is not apparently from the outside of it’s intended use, however inside is dreary and plain. The holding cells are located in a sub basement with no windows and only one door. It is not often that people are placed in the cells as most are common mistakes and misunderstandings. But if a serious crime is committed and they need to be seen by the council, they will stay a few days in the cells.

Law Office - There are three different law offices on the island that do little work other than ownership rights cases. Most of the work they do deals with the legal aspect of shipping goods to and from the island or storing them inside the warehouses.

Mayor’s House - The cities mayor lives here in a nice three story house faced in pink granite and walled off from the average populace.

Militia Office - This single story building is where the local militia and guards are stationed from. Their duties include the patrol of the streets in the city as well as keeping order of all visitors who get rowdy, and the patrol of the outside of the academy grounds. There are a number of guards that are allowed to work the gates, but most are only allowed outside the wall.